Remodeling Target: Ranch-style Houses

DALLAS — The big target in remodeling today is the venerable ranch style house, according to experts in the home improvement field.

The trend to ranch remodeling made sense to the consumer, housing experts said.

Plenty of ranch-style houses are available. Millions of them were built throughout the nation after World War II.

The remodeling rampage quickly caught the attention of the nation's builder/remodelers.

To encourage the trend and to suggest ideas for remodeling a ranch-style house, the National Remodelers Council of the National Association of Home Builders, Remodeling magazine and Metropolitan Home magazine joined forces to show the ultimate in ranch-style home remodeling.

Dubbed The Renovated Ranch, the house was displayed during the home builder association's recent annual convention here.

Larry W. Bussey, 1985 chairman of the National Remodelers Council, said he believes the renovated ranch will be one the key housing markets of the '80s. The ranch-style house offers plenty of improvement opportunities, Bussey said.

Ben Lloyd, interior design and architecture editor of Metropolitan Home, said the houses tended to feature small rooms. The front usually opened directly into the living room. The kitchen of the 1950s was usually quite separated from the rest of the house and was dark, he said.

''In the 1980s, we look for wide open spaces, rooms to lounge and relax in . . . and kitchens that allow everyone to cook and chat together,'' Lloyd said.

The houses of the '40s, '50s and early '60s also tended to be built close to the front of the property to provide a large back yard.

''That means most of them have ample room to add on at the back,'' said Lloyd. ''And that's where you get the extra space demanded by today's home buyer.''

The Dallas project took some searching, said Bussey.

He said the remodeled home had to be within a 20-minute drive of the Dallas Convention Center so it would easily accessible to the estimated 55,000 delegates attending the trade association's annual exposition and business meeting.

A 1,650-square-foot ranch house with a nondescript brown brick front in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas was purchased for the project.

Howard Glazbrook III, of Howard Glazbrook III Architects in Dallas, was selected as architect for the project. The builder was Presley Gardner, president of P. R. Gardner & Co. of Dallas, and a member of the Remodelers Council of the Metro Dallas Builders Association.

By both knocking out walls and adding space, the remodelers:

-- Created a large family room with a fireplace at one end and a state-of- the-art kitchen at the other.

-- The kitchen was expanded and rearranged. Two walls were replaced with low counters atop modular cabinets, and the dining area and family room were located beyond them. A skylight, azure blue ceramic floor tiles and Italian light fixtures also were added.

-- A central hallway to improve access to all rooms in the house was created by borrowing a little space from the length of the living and dining rooms and the bedrooms.

-- The master bedroom was enlarged. A master bath with whirlpool tub under a greenhouse roof, double sinks, two locker room-style showers, commode and a bidet adjoin the bedroom.

-- An unusual feature included in the remodeling is an ''outdoor room.'' Architect Glazbrook said the room, adjacent to the master bedroom and the family room, has free-standing walls, open windows, a roof beam, garden lighting, redwood flooring and a spa that seats up to seven guests.

-- The brown brick front of the house was replaced with cream-colored painted brick and a lattice-fronted portico, lighted from within. Azure blue Italian tiles cover a concrete apron.

Advertisers in both Metropolitan Home and Remodeling magazines provided everything from building materials to appliances, furniture and linens.

Glazbrook acknowledged that the project was a pretty expensive renovation. The project house was purchased for less than $180,000 and is for sale at $425,000.

''Since this was a model renovation, we wanted to include as many ideas as possible,'' he said. ''We don't expect everyone to use them all. But one of the joys of renovating a ranch is that you don't have to be timid or restrained.